The Bananas - America

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For the FruitGuys Bananas, American fruit represents life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. It's not about nationalism or an attack on other countries' fruit, though. Simply put, American fruit tastes better when it's delivered locally to American people. It costs less to ship, supports small farming operations, and helps sustain our land for generations to come.

Upon arriving in New York Harbor (not the Las Vegas casino version — the real one), immigrants had their first taste of the New World. To represent the values of America, the United States and France collaborated on a statue named for "Liberty Enlightening the World," which we all know now as the Statue of Liberty. Built in France and completed in 1884, the statue was then dismantled and ferried to America. By October, 1886, over one million people came to see the statue's unveiling, and the whole city of New York felt like a giant celebration. One hundred years later, President Ronald Reagan commemorated the statue's centennial by ushering in a laser light show and revealing Liberty's updated torch. She lives on as a symbol of our country's strongest values, as well as the partnership between America and France.

Today, we can use that story as a point of inspiration to take into our communities, workplaces, schools, and homes. For the FruitGuys, doing their part means bringing customers the highest-quality fruit that can be found within the region. If possible, they look for small farms that raise fruit organically, without pesticides or other destructive processes. This way, they help out local businesses and can often get the fruit to their warehouse within hours. And these independent farms need our help — it's typical for them to have a tough time securing funds and staying afloat when volatile weather or harsh economics catch them off guard. That's why the FruitGuys Community Fund was founded: to give small grants for projects that benefit the soil and sustainable fruit production, keeping farms alive.

The FruitGuys Bananas might not have gotten the chance to visit the original Statue of Liberty yet, but they did take a road trip to the New York - New York casino in Vegas. Luckily, the casino includes a scaled-down model of Liberty and some iconic skyscrapers from the Big Apple. Now, they're delivering their own spirit of America in the form of nutritious fruit.